at odds and ends
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: In a universe where the Shadow World is almost entirely controlled by the Seelie Court, Magnus Bane - High Warlock and the Queen's right hand - is starting to doubt everything he knows about the society he rules over. When he realises that his life is at risk, he resorts to the only sensible option: leaving the past behind and hiring a Shadowhunter to guard him.
1. Prologue

**Notes: So! This is my go at a multi-chaptered story based on a version of events where the Shadowhunters lost the Uprising and the Downworld gained the upper hand in the following years. It's shaping up to be a pretty ambitious project for me, but hopefully I'll manage. This is just the prologue and the first chapter will be posted shortly; after that, updates will be on a weekly basis every Monday. I hope you enjoy it and feedback is always welcome!**

Magnus shoved his phone back into his pocket as if it had burnt him as soon as he'd ended the call and took another quick look at his surroundings just in case. He seemed to be alone, but there was no way to be sure – some of the Queen's servants were far too small for him to see them but still had enough magic to be able to report back to her immediately.

And it wasn't just her, that was the trouble. The Queen was a local, manageable threat – and one that shouldn't have been a threat in the _first_ place – but there were much worse things that had to be taken into account; things that he couldn't bear to ignore any longer.

The signs were all there. The Queen refused to listen, sure as ever of their defences and their impenetrability, and for the first time Magnus realised that he didn't _need_ her to. Despite their alliance, she had the entire Seelie Court behind her back, ready to step up if there was even the slightest possibility of her being in danger and no matter how often she assured hm that the same would be done for him, Magnus knew that he was on his own. The Unseelie Court had openly rebelled against her _years_ ago, way before the Uprising, and Magnus would only make his situation that much more complicated if he tried to contact the King.

His first option, of course, was to ask for one of her men. The Seelie Queen was surrounded by knights and she would be able to recommend him someone capable enough, but Magnus was well aware that he would never trust them entirely. To top that off, it would be just one more way in which he was connected to her _and_ he would have to show her that he was feeling vulnerable for one reason or another and given everything that had happened over the last couple of months, that was the last thing he wanted.

No, he would have to actually come in contact with the Nephilim.

It wasn't _forbidden_ , per se. Nothing was ever forbidden for the people who decide what the laws were – another one of the Queen's rather inadvisable policies – but it was still risky enough for him to hesitate at first. No Nephilim would dare hurt him, but they wouldn't be too eager to _help_ him either and he'd have to up the ante if he wanted anyone actually worth hiring to say _yes_. Not that that was much of a surprise – there was a reason they were so sought after and so difficult to afford. They were light years ahead of any other soldier and once they'd sworn to protect someone, they wouldn't go back on their word.

At the end of the day, it was his best shot whether he liked to admit it or not. With a long-suffering sigh, Magnus reached for his phone again and started dialling a number he would have preferred to be able to forget.


	2. Chapter 1

"Don't tell me you're going to say yes."

"Of course I'm going to say yes." Alec was still fiddling with the letter he'd received this morning while his parabatai stared at it with enough intensity to burn a hole through it. They were supposed to be working, but it was midday, which meant that their protégé was still asleep, trusting them to figure out a plan how to get him through the city without the Queen's people catching sight of him. "I don't really have a _choice_."

"We don't need the money that much."

The statement was so ridiculous all on its own that Alec lost track of the map in front of him for a moment as he glanced up at Jace. His parabatai was the one who had just yesterday said that even if it meant they would risk everything, they had to find a new job; if he was resorting to this, he had to be really desperate.

"Yes, we do." He hated to admit it, but it was becoming far too obvious and it wasn't like they could ignore the elephant in the room forever anyway. Almost all of the family's savings that they had had with them when they'd finally established their new life in New York had been spent on trying to maintain said life the way it was for as long as possible. A lot of it had been blown on buying the flat they lived in and that had made them even more careful with whatever little they'd had left. "We need them more than ever. Do you really want to stay in Dumort for the rest of your life?" He didn't need an answer to that one. While Alec had more or less resigned himself to doing what was necessary to ensure their family's survival, he was just as prone to angry outbursts as Jace once they got back to the safety of their room. It was getting more and more unbearable by the day, especially given Izzy's current situation, and keeping quiet was worse than anything else in their work with the local vampires. "This could be our way out, Jace. If he likes the work I do, we can all get out of here once and for all."

"It's not worth it," Jace said, but some of the heat had left his voice now. Things _had_ been getting progressively worse for a while now and any help they could find, no matter how insignificant, was more than they had expected, especially since they had one more person to feed and train now that Clary had joined them. Given the position he held, it was likely that Magnus Bane would be a little more generous than the majority of the employers they had had so far. "Maybe there's still something else we can find."

"Clary and Max need a teacher and Izzy would never heal from the yin fen if she keeps working with the clan." Alec tried to keep his voice gentle – they'd repeated all of this plenty of times already, but now that it almost felt as if they had a _solution_ , bringing it up again seemed just a tad less painful. It was better than the unspoken helplessness from before, that was for sure. "I can just visit and see what it's all about. He says that he needs our specific skill set and someone's redirected him to us."

"What an honour." Jace scratched yet another possible escape route off of their map as he saw the faerie hill that had been marked far too close to it. Alec snorted.

"We're just lucky that the Lightwood name still means something to these people. Can you cover for me?" he added, gesturing to the map. It wasn't something they necessarily needed to do together, but killing time was crucial when they were trying to distract themselves from the fact that their employer was sleeping in a coffin right behind them. "I'll go get ready. This here says he needs a response as soon as possible."

"Go," Jace nodded. "And call me. I want to know how it went."

It was a reasonable request this time around, so Alec didn't protest. "I will. See you later."

He'd done his best to sound as sure of himself as he could, but it was a wasted effort – his parabatai would be able to tell that he was farther from it than he had been ever since the rumours about Valentine had started spreading around.

"See you."

Jace's goodbye was just as carefully nonchalant and Alec smiled. They weren't okay – and wouldn't be for quite a while, if he had to guess – but they were finally on their way.

 **o.O.o**

Magnus Bane's residence wasn't nearly as intimidating as the Queen's main one, if only because it was above the ground, but that was the best thing Alec could say about it even if he was feeling charitable. It was still a place that the majority of his people avoided after the Uprising, and he couldn't exactly blame them.

It had happened shortly after Alec's birth, so there wasn't much he could say about it, but his parents's stories and the events that had followed haunted him nevertheless. After Valentine's Circle had risen to power, the tension between the Shadowhunters and the Downworld had only heightened and in the end, everything had collapsed in on itself when the Seelie Queen had decided to fight back.

He'd been very young – so young that he was surprised that he could remember it – but Alec could still recall the exact expression on his mother's face when they'd learnt that the Inquisitor was dead. The civil war had ended around that time, Shadowhunters who'd sworn allegiance to the Clave or the Circle both fleeing to their homeland, but it had been too late. Most of the Institutes had fallen and the Nephilim in the human world had gone into hiding before they'd lost their lives. The mundanes – most of them, at least – hadn't seen much of a difference, but behind the scenes, shrouded in glamour, the world had turned upside down that day.

That had been twenty years ago. The dust had settled down somewhat in the meantime, but things had never been the same again. The Shadowhunters scattered around the world served as elite bodyguards, mainly against Seelies and Demons, and they still went on their own hunts when there was need for it. The City of Bones and the Adamant Citadel were two of the few places that had never been invaded so they could still get their adamas, but it was just about the only aspect of their lives that had remained unchanged.

Everything else related to magic was authorised by the Queen now. If she didn't have the patience or understanding for it, it was handled by Magnus Bane, her right hand and High Warlock.

That was what the small label above the doorbell at the gates read when he approached them. _Magnus Bane, High Warlock_. He had been the High Warlock of Brooklyn once, but he'd apparently decided that he didn't need to keep up the charade and pretend that he wasn't in charge of _everyone_ now. If nothing else, Alec appreciated the honesty – something far too scarce when dealing with the Queen despite her inability to lie.

 _Honest_ was what radiated from this entire place, really, and this impression only strengthened at the bored 'What do you want, Nephilim?' that cracked through the speakers. The sparks that emitted from the device were enough for him to tell that the entire place was likely fuelled mainly with magic, which was to be expected. Even if it was easy for potential invaders to override such a simple spell, who would dare to intrude here?

"I received an— invitation," Alec said, not entirely certain what the protocol for such occasions was. His current employer had shown up out of nowhere during a hunting mission and had offered to pay them outright if they managed to get him through the grounds of the local Werewolf pack unnoticed and no Shadowhunter in their right mind would refuse a job offer when it had landed right in front of them. "Mr Bane was in search of a bodyguard?"

"Oh!" There was the distinct sound of someone scrambling up in their chair and then the connection cut off, his phone ringing a second later. Alec stared at the name displayed there in mild disbelief – was Magnus Bane really paranoid enough to be his own housekeeper? – before picking up. "You must be Maryse Lightwood's brother."

"Er. Son, actually." The gardens were as beautiful as they were deserted and the faint scent of magic hung in the air here too. The place was _enormous_ and Alec briefly wondered whether this was what Bane wanted him to look after and if that was the case, whether he could talk him into hiring Izzy and Jace too. It would sound sensible, really: if the man was averse to cameras, it would definitely be too much territory for Alec to adequately look after all on his own. "I'm Alexander Lightwood."

"Right. Well, come in, Alexander Lightwood." The front door swung open, as if on cue. "We have plenty to talk about."

He sounded welcoming, almost— almost _friendly_. Alec had only ever seen photos of him and had heard his name on the news occasionally and while he'd always known that he wasn't as bad as the Queen – few people out there were – he had still expected something different. His home was grand enough as it were; a cathedral-like building looming over the entire street right in the heart of Manhattan, and he'd expected the man's introduction to follow in the same manner.

It did, in a way. He was waiting on top of the staircase that started from the main entrance, illuminated only by the setting sun outside and the numerous candles lighting up the hallway. His eyes – golden, with slit pupils – glistened back at Alec and for a fleeting moment, he seemed to be all gold and darkness, from the jewellery adorning his neck to the tips of his shoes.

It _was_ fleeting, but it had achieved the desired effect. Alec didn't speak again until he was spoken to, stuck in place a few feet away from the High Warlock as he tried to figure out what the best course of action here would be.

"You remind me of your mother," Bane said abruptly and turned away, motioning for Alec to follow him. It hadn't sounded like a compliment, but apparently the resemblance wasn't enough to make him change his mind. "Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you." They had just entered another room – the main hall of the mansion, if Alec had to guess – and he was already plagued by the persistent feeling that it would be best to keep a clear head. "I don't drink on the job."

"Good start." The approval in Bane's voice seemed genuine. He had picked an armchair for himself and Alec hesitantly took a seat on the sofa opposite of him. "Although I have to admit that I'm not sure if you'll be able to follow through."

"Why is that?" How was he even supposed to _address_ him? Alec had never ever entertained the thought that he would ever find himself in this position, so he had never considered what the case would be with him. _Your Majesty_ was always a good choice with the Queen, but Alec somehow doubted that it would be taken as well here. As it was, he wasn't given the chance to find out.

"Even nowadays, a lot of the Downworld prefers to stay low, as I'm sure you've noticed." At Alec's nod, Bane went on. "They try to blend in with the Mundanes if possible, which means that a lot of people I need to meet on a daily basis tend to frequent nightclubs. Whoever I have to accompany me to these meetings – ideally that's you, I've been assured – will have to follow me every step of the way."

"Oh." That was _not_ what Alec had expected. If Bane had wanted a regular bodyguard, he could have had many better options, surely. Almost any creature he could have picked would have been less imposing on the Downworld scene than a Shadowhunter following him at every step. "Around the clock?"

"Mainly at night, actually, but I need to know that you'll be there when I call you, no matter when I call you." He had thought this through, it seemed, every part of his instructions carefully rehearsed. "Does that sound acceptable?"

 _No_. It was a kneejerk reaction and thankfully, Alec managed to keep it to himself. It was important that he had the time to keep in touch with his family, especially now that so many things had piled up on them all at once, and he'd managed that well enough when he, Jace and Izzy had worked at the same place. Being constantly on call would change things significantly.

But on the other hand, wasn't that exactly the _point_? Things needed to change; they had for a while. That was the reason he'd come here. And the sooner he took the plunge, the easier it would be. He just had to negotiate this in a way that would be beneficial for everyone.

"I need a day off," he decided at last. It was a risky move – Elliott back in the Dumort didn't allow anything of the sort and he and Jace had managed to work out their schedule in a way that was manageable for both of them – but it would probably go over well. Agreeing to anything he was being handed wouldn't be a good idea either. "Doesn't matter which one, just that's one day per week. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course." Bane's drink refilled itself at his glance and he picked it up again, raising it as if for a toast. "More than. Now, I expect you'd like to discuss your payment?"

 **o.O.o**

By the time Alec came home, he was beyond exhausted. He'd considered helping himself with an Energy rune on the way there, but had eventually decided against it: he would never be able to fall asleep afterwards and right now a good, healthy dose of rest was exactly what he needed. It was also what he was sorely lacking lately, so the state of the flat when he unlocked the front door – quiet and mostly dark – was a welcome relief.

He was tired enough to actually be _surprised_ when he found himself with an armful of Jace and he laughed softly as he hugged his parabatai in return. He had called him less than an hour ago, but it was even better to deliver the news in person and plus, being outside all on their own was something they had all tried to avoid as much as possible lately. "I _told_ you it was a good idea."

"I know, I know." Jace pulled away and disappeared into their room where he went back to his dinner. He was already dressed for bed and his voice was hushed and it was unexpectedly _nice_ to be able to talk while also being completely certain that they weren't being listened to. "It's just such a big change. You can't blame me for worrying."

"I really can't." Alec practically attacked his own meal and frowned at the taste. It was _good_ ; more so than he had expected and better than anything he or Jace had managed even after years of taking care of the household. "Who made this?"

"Clary." Jace grinned at him with an _I told you so_ look of his own, inordinately satisfied with the information. "And you said that she couldn't be useful for anything."

"Only we don't need a _cook_ , Jace." Alec was more impressed than he would have liked to admit – it really was the first time the girl had done anything apart from drawing unnecessary attention to them – but encouraging her presence here still wasn't something he could stomach. "Did she and Izzy make any progress today?"

His parabatai sighed and the undercurrent of unease that had been fighting for attention despite his joy at Alec's news suddenly became all too obvious through their bond.

"Yes," he said, eyes resolutely fixed somewhere on the floor between them; a sure sign that the he wouldn't like the news he was about to receive. "The Silent Brothers managed to unlock most of her memories. Her mother took her to a Warlock at some point so that they could hold back her Sight and apparently that erased anything she could have overheard about the Shadow World, but now that she knows, it's all coming back to the surface and— there was something her mother once said that made her realise— She's Valentine's daughter."

"And you couldn't _start_ with that?" Jace sounded more crestfallen than betrayed and he clearly didn't feel threatened, but it wasn't _enough_. Cold, sharp fear clutched at Alec's heart, stronger than anything he had felt in a long time. "Jace, she lives in our _home_. What if he's the one who sent her? What if he finds out about you? We can't risk—"

"He doesn't even know she exists," Jace cut him off, voice sharp. It always got like this when he was trying to keep himself in check and that happened quite often where the man he'd believed to be his father was concerned. "Or at least, he didn't when I read his diaries before I ran away. It was just me and the other— his son. We don't even know if he experimented on her as well and he's got her mother now. Jocelyn might be the only one out there who knows where the Mortal Cup is and we need to get her back. The Silent Brothers said that she had the help of a Warlock, Dot Rollins – it was in Clary's memories – but she's nowhere to be found."

Any protest Alec had had in mind about the situation died in his throat. It was all far too complicated for him to come up with a solution on the spot. Contacting the Clave was out of the question – whatever was left of the Council wouldn't leave Idris even for the promise of the tool that could bring them more Shadowhunter and it would only mean having to put themselves in an extremely vulnerable position by hiring a Warlock to open them a portal. It wasn't something they could risk and the one in the New York Institute had been destroyed years ago. Or so they'd heard – no one here actually knew where the Institute was supposed to be – but it didn't matter much. _No one gets in, no one gets out_ had been Idris's most prominent law for years. It was the reason why Alec had taken almost entirely over the care for his family ages ago and why Jace still hadn't come in contact with his only living relative – Imogen Herondale, the current Inquisitor. Any attempt for contact was yet another thing they'd had to sacrifice in exchange for safety and for the most part, Alec didn't mind, but now? If they could only persuade their respective families, they could stand a chance at receiving some – _any_ – assistance. As it were, they only had themselves to work with.

"Here's what we're going to do," he said, startling Jace from his own contemplation. "You need to ask around the clan if they know anything about Dot Rollins and I'll do the same. Bane wants me to follow him around on his outings; maybe he knows something. He probably keeps track of all the Warlocks in the city and even if he doesn't, one of his— associates might know where we can find her. Izzy and Clary can try and track her down if they find something of hers in the place where she lived. Once Izzy comes home from tonight's shift, tell her that she can quit and start training Clary and Max. We don't need to bring any new people in – we've taken too many risks already – and I'm not sure we can invest in a teacher anyway."

"Alec!" Jace sounded more than a little scandalised and for once, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Alec rather enjoyed being surprising when it was a pleasant kind of change.

"Don't worry, we can afford this," he soothed when he realised that this would be Jace's first protest. "If Bane does pay me as much as he says he will, we won't need any additional help and the farther Isabelle stays from the Vampires, the better. It'll give her some time to properly sweat it out like Raphael said and she won't have to worry about needing to be efficient all the time. How's that sound?"

"Like you're getting ahead of yourself because we're doing _slightly_ better now," Jace quipped, but then relented. Being constantly alert was beyond exhausting and it had taken its toll on all of them; it was no surprise that he was ready to grasp the chance of an easy way out, unlikely as it seemed for now. "It sounds _great_. Now let's see if we can actually accomplish it. From what I've been able to learn so far, Jocelyn knew a lot of Downworlders – yes, I know, _Valentine's wife_ , but Clary wouldn't have a reason to lie about this so I suppose she must have established her connections later on – and was a close friend to Luke Garroway. Clary talks about him as if he's a family friend, maybe he knows something too."

"A Downworlder? I doubt it," Alec said as he finished the last of his mashed potatoes. Now that he wasn't hungry anymore, the need for sleep had become even more pressing. "It doesn't matter how good Jocelyn's connections are, if he _and_ that Warlock know, that makes two of them. No Shadowhunter could be that careless."

"Garroway is a former Circle member, though. Who knows whose side he's on right now?"

"Not us, that's for sure." Alec was all too familiar with that look. It was the one Jace usually adopted when he was contemplating something highly questionable. "Valentine was his parabatai; he could still side with him. Or he could not risk his position with the Queen and keep his pack out of this for as long as he can. Look, let's just leave the Werewolves alone for now," he added just in case. "We have enough to deal with. We should try and find this Warlock first, and if it comes to that, we can think about Jocelyn. But _please_ , tell Izzy to be careful and make sure that Clary is going to keep her head down until then. I don't like how much noise she makes. In every sense of the word."

Jace pursed his lips but didn't object. "You could tell them all of that _yourself_ , you know."

"Actually, I'm going nocturnal again, so I won't have much of a chance to tell anyone anything." It was worth it, Alec reminded himself at Jace's rueful smile that without doubt mirrored his own. "But we'll still keep in touch, okay?" _This_ was what they needed to keep track of – communication – and Alec was suddenly glad of the terms for his contract that he'd made up on the spot back in Bane's home. "This is the biggest thing we've ever tried to deal with; let's not mess it up."

"Of course we won't mess it up," Jace said. There was something else he had in mind, probably – there usually was – but Alec didn't get the chance to hear it. He was asleep as soon as he let his eyes fall shut.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes: More introductions are made and Alec's getting the hang of his new job. This is the chapter where the plot actually starts unfurling, I suppose. Feedback is always welcome!**

* * *

Just as he'd dared to think that he was making some sort of progress with the newest addition to his life, Magnus found himself in the middle of a demon attack. It was a pity – the nearly unbearable silence had _just_ been starting to turn into an actual conversation – but it also gave him an opportunity to see what his recently acquired bodyguard was capable of, so he didn't have it in him to complain.

So instead he watched as Alexander Lightwood stopped the car, lit up his Seraph blade and went outside to face the small horde blocking the street with a sigh that was more annoyed than anything else; like killing demons was as much of an inconvenience as the kids who ran around the neighbourhood and forced him to slow the car down and not an activity more dangerous than the majority of the population could even imagine.

Magnus liked him already.

His mood darkened considerably when one of the demons – large and loud and vaguely familiar in a way he couldn't put his finger on – broke into a dozen smaller ones when the adamas blade pierced through it. It took the Shadowhunter a split second to get over the surprise, but it was enough for one of them to crawl far too close and Magnus acted before he'd even made the decision to, stepping out of the car and sending a blast strong enough to turn half of them to ash and send them back to their home dimension.

 _That_ Alexander could work with, it seemed. He didn't even hesitate before shifting his attention to the rest of his targets, slashing through them with practiced ease. He was in his element like this and the glint in his eyes, fuelling his focused effort, only diminished when the last demon disappeared with a shimmer in the air.

"Thank you, Sir," he said as he climbed back into the driver's seat, looking entirely too unruffled by the situation. "I don't think I've ever seen a demon do that before."

"I have," Magnus admitted, "but it was a long time ago." Too long, and in a place too different from this one, but now wasn't the time to dwell on this, he decided. "And please, no need to be so formal. Call me Magnus."

"That's— as you wish." He was still tense, but noticeably less so than he had been for the past week since he'd started working for him. "What are they? Not Higher demons, I can see that, but—"

"—they were sent here by a Higher demon," Magnus finished for him. It made perfect sense that the Shadowhunters of today would be self-taught in the art of hunting, of course, and so Magnus hadn't expected them to be quite as competent as they apparently were despite the lack of the mentors who usually passed down the knowledge. It was either that, or this particular one was an exception. There had to have been a reason he'd been advised to check out the Lightwoods, after all. "There must be a rift somewhere close by."

"Is that why you need protection? I'm sorry," Alexander said quickly when Magnus turned to look at him, "I didn't mean to be too forward. I was just wondering—you can kill demons on your own; you just proved that. You wouldn't need help from us if it was just that."

"Alexander," Magnus started with a sigh. They were still stuck in the middle of the street and they were definitely going to be late at this point, but this would have to take precedence. "I told you; no need to be so formal." _I'm not the Seelie Queen_. It was the first thing that had come to mind, but not something he could afford to say in front of a Nephilim. "But I suppose it's fair to let you know what you're here for. Yes, it's a Higher demon, likely the one who caused the rift that leads to Edom." He tried to ignore widening of the man's eyes, painfully aware that he should have said this _earlier_. There was no fear in his expression, but it had been unexpected and Magnus couldn't blame him: nothing like this had happened in years. "I'm not sure when – or _if_ – he's going to show up, but I need to be prepared for it in case he does. He's a Prince of Hell and chances are he'll try to find me if he manages to leave his dimension and I can't handle it on my own. I'm not expecting you to fight him for me, but I'm going to need the help. Of course, there are other factors too – ones that you can only be made aware of when we encounter them, I'm afraid – but it's mainly this. Think you can work with that?"

The Shadowhunter was quiet at first, likely trying to assimilate all the new information, and then nodded tersely. "Yes, I think I can. Thank you, S— Magnus."

It appeared that this was all he had to say because Alexander didn't speak another word until they got to the address Magnus had directed him to. Even if he had made a point of staying as far from Shadowhunters as possible ever since the Uprising, this was exactly what he had expected them to be like even when they weren't at war. _Soldiers_. Disciplined and quiet and exactly what he could have asked for in a bodyguard, even if someone a little more talkative would have been _nice_.

"You wait here," he said once they arrived and motioned to the brick wall near the small, unassuming door he was he was heading for. The only request he had was an unfortunately compromising one, but why had he hired a Shadowhunter if not for situations such as this one? They were well known for being discreet and not asking uncomfortable questions even when something was obviously wrong, hell bent on ignoring it until it was explicitly brought up. "And don't let any Seelies in no matter what they tell you. Lie to them if you have to, but keep them away from the building."

"Will do," Alexander nodded and Magnus found himself far too ready to trust him as he unlocked the door and was immediately plunged into the darkness inside. A Nephilim would have no reason to go against his wishes in this particular case – his kind hated the Queen and her people much more than they could hate any Warlock, what with her armies being the ones to finally break through Idris's defences days after one of the Court's princes had been killed by Circle members – but that wasn't to say that there wasn't lingering resentment.

Still, this wasn't the right time to doubt his loyalty; not when he had already brought him to the only place he thought of as his own apart from his home. Alexander wouldn't have appeared at his front door unless he'd really needed the job, so it was only sensible to assume that he wouldn't want to sabotage him so early on. Trying to discard the thought, Magnus clicked his fingers to light up the hallway in front of him.

When most people saw _Pandemonium_ , their first impression of it always had to do with how big it turned out to be; everyone said so when asked. It lived up to the image of the demon city it was named after, vast and loud and chaotic and full of all types of creatures as it was. It was one of the few places frequented by every race imaginable apart from demons – even Shadowhunters found their way inside somehow, usually as the silent shadows of their employers – and that made it so overwhelming that it was guaranteed no one would remember that there was any kind of organisation behind it.

It was exactly that illusion that had led to Magnus sneaking through the backdoor of his own club: as long as no one paid any attention to his office, he could get away with hiding everything he wanted hidden in plain sight there. The Seelie Queen found the place rather offensive in almost every way imaginable and the mundane presence was too much for her to handle, so she avoided it with the kind of silent disdain that she felt towards everything Magnus did without her explicit approval.

And yet, he was happy to note that she was in the minority in this case. Magnus wasn't surprised to find that the office in question was already occupied as he came in. Raphael and Luke weren't exactly _quiet_ in each other's company even when they tried to be and they only put an end to what sounded like the beginning of an argument once he walked in.

"Are you out of your mind?" Raphael turned on him instead of a greeting. He had the rare talent of sounding distressingly calm even when he was furious, so Magnus could never tell whether he was truly angry or not. "Your sensors have been going mad because there's someone with angel blood at the door upstairs. Have you brought _Meliorn_ here?"

Magnus suppressed a sigh. As much as he disliked Seelie presence at his club, it was still nothing compared to how badly Raphael reacted to it. One of these days he would have to ask what the knight had done to deserve the animosity, but he would evidently have to wait until things had simmered down somewhat.

"It's just a Nephilim," he said instead and, at the realisation that this didn't explain much at all, elaborated, "I _hired_ him to do this, just a few days ago. He's been doing a great job so far _and_ he's there precisely to keep Meliorn away."

"Is it the Lightwood boy?" Raphael seemed a little more disinterested now, which Magnus considered an improvement from his usual state. "He worked for Elliott not long ago and then just disappeared along with his sister."

So he had a family. It was much clearer, now, why he'd been so eager to accept the job proposal. "That would be him."

"What do you need him for?" Luke was already on edge, always on the lookout for potential complications. He'd blended into the New York Downworld well enough, but he had never quite forgotten his roots – or that, even if Valentine had been the one who'd practically organised his transformation, Downworlders were the reason everyone he had ever loved had gone into hiding. "Has the Queen said something?"

"Not outright, but you know how she can be." Magnus pulled out his desk chair and plopped down in it, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes as he tried to focus. He'd had one sleepless night too many recently because of the Queen and her sudden determination to be secretive, but this was the first time he'd actually tried to talk to someone about it since he'd started suspecting that something was wrong and it was even more freeing than he'd anticipated. "She's up to something and she won't tell me what it is, but I can't risk outstaying my welcome in the Court by insisting and it's putting me in a rather _difficult_ position."

There were plenty of things that had happened during the Uprising which Magnus would have preferred not to remember; plenty of regrets to dwell on, especially about decisions he could never undo. Siding with the Seelie Queen wasn't one of them – the alternative would have been much worse – but it wasn't something he was necessarily _happy_ about either. The Queen could never be a trustworthy ally and Magnus felt as if he'd been holding his breath for the last twenty years, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Now that it had finally happened – or had _started_ to – he wasn't sure whether it made things worse or better.

"Give it time," Raphael said. He didn't look too bothered by the Court's unpredictability, but then again, he wasn't particularly familiar with any of the creatures who lived there. "You said it yourself; this is what she's always like. She'll tell you when she's ready. It's not actually the Seelies I'm concerned about, to be honest," he continued with just the hint of irritation to his voice; the one that always came to the surface when he needed to bring anyone, even Magnus, into his clan's affairs. "What has your friend Dorothea been up to recently and why are the Nephilim looking for her?"

"I haven't met her in a while." Magnus frowned at the sudden change of topic. The local Shadowhunters had been generally unproblematic for a good decade and a half already and it was unexpected to hear anything else. " _Who_ has been asking?"

"Jace Herondale, mainly. Lightwood's friend," Raphael clarified. "He still works in the _Dumort_. He won't tell anyone what he wants from her, but I thought you'd like to know."

"I'll look into it." Even after he'd changed his title, Magnus had mainly remained the High Warlock of Brooklyn in all the ways that actually mattered and he was still able to track down most of the Warlocks in his general vicinity. It was just that too many of them had flocked to the city since then, uncertain whether they would get the same level of protection elsewhere, and he'd started losing track of everyone's magical traces. "I'm sure she's fine, but it won't hurt to check."

"There are a few more things you might want to look into," Luke said and pushed a few sheets of paper towards him across the desk. "The demonic activity in the city is rising again. If this is like the last time—"

"It's not," Magnus assured him. He knew what _the last time_ referred to – a mysterious series of demon attacks all over the city just a few years back – and it was the last thing he needed right now, not least of all because he had no idea how to actually fix it. He couldn't very well assemble all the Shadowhunters in the city to work for him. The Queen definitely wouldn't approve of them being an organised force in any shape or form and that was just the first argument on a rather long list. "It happens once in a blue moon, really; a sudden influx that passes quickly. I've heard it from Nephilim who live in the mundane world. I'm sure it couldn't be all that difficult to handle."

It wasn't precisely a lie – not yet, because while he _had_ heard of said phenomenon, Magnus knew all too well that it wasn't random now – but for the first time in years, he found himself dangerously close to one. It was a small thing, but also yet another sign of what he had already suspected: no matter what he did, he would never really have a place in the Court.

 **o.O.o**

The oppressive heat of the summer night outside hit Magnus full force once he came out and he grimaced at the feeling of it on his skin. It was a sticky-sweet warmth, the kind of weather that always drew the Fair Folk away from Fayland and above the surface and he was happy to find that his guard was still standing dutifully where he'd left him. He was leaning against the wall now and talking animatedly over the phone, distracted enough not to notice Magnus as he neared him as quietly as possible.

"—that we need to find it as soon as we can. If they don't care about that, they won't care about this either." There was a healthy dose of bitterness in the Shadowhunter's voice, heavily mixed with anger. "We'll have to do it on our own, but I don't want Clary anywhere close by. We can have her look after Max – we'll have to rune him before that and Raziel knows how his body will react without a Silent Brother." There was a moment of silence and then his voice was quieter, gentler. "He won't. Trust me, parabatai, I would never let that happen."

The word – one that Magnus hadn't heard in a long time and that he hadn't _expected_ from someone so young – was enough to make him trip over the uneven sidewalk and Alexander turned around immediately, expression relaxing a little when he realised that it wasn't an intruder. "Look, we'll talk when I get home, okay? We can handle this. Are you ready to go?" he asked as soon as the connection cut off and Magnus was quietly impressed by the abrupt shift in his demeanour, by the unspoken frustration that had melted so easily into cool professionalism. He nodded wordlessly and headed back for the car. "Where to?"

"Back home. I'm done for the night." Magnus's head was buzzing with more things than he could possibly deal with right now and he was inordinately glad that he had included chauffeuring him to his meetings into Alexander's contract – any attempt at charming the car to drive itself almost always backfired.

He hadn't particularly _wanted_ to know anything about the Shadowhunter's life. Even deciding to breach the unspoken boundary between his own society and the Nephilim had taken him a while; he would have preferred to keep things as impersonal as possible.

But this? _Something_ was clearly going on. His bodyguard's eyes shifted anxiously from the street in front of them to rear-view mirror like nothing was enough of a distraction and as much as Magnus would have liked to, he couldn't bite back the urge to ask.

"Alexander," he ventured again, this time much more careful than before. He was threading over a dangerous territory now and he didn't want to upset him further by prodding at something he wouldn't want to discuss with someone who was practically a stranger. "Is everything all right?"

The man gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, his face twisting with something resembling physical pain even as he gave an affirmative nod. "Yes, thank you."

"It's just that it doesn't seem that way." He should have stopped while he was ahead, Magnus berated himself. This had been a bad idea. There was a _history_ that needed to be taken into account when the aforementioned boundary was even approached. They were too different and there was too much grief they had caused one another over the years for them to think of accepting any help from the other side. "If there's anything I can do to help—"

"There really isn't." It was the first time Alec had ignored his self-imposed professional behaviour by interrupting him and Magnus's voice died. "It's just family trouble."

 _Family_ _trouble_. Magnus had yet to learn how big that family was, but it sounded like a lot to handle going just by the conversation that Magnus had overheard outside of the _Pandemonium_. There was the sister that Raphael had talked about – the Clary that had been mentioned, he supposed – along with _Max_ , someone apparently young enough to have to be runed for the first time, who had to be a little brother. He had no idea where Maryse and Robert Lightwood, as well as the rest of their relatives, were residing these days, but it clearly wasn't in New York if he had to do everything on his own.

To top it all off, Alexander also seemed to have a parabatai – one in distress, at that – and hearing it all summarised with nothing but _family_ _trouble_ sounded like a vast understatement. It also raised plenty of questions, some of which he could only find answers from if he looked straight into the roots of them.

"How does a parabatai ceremony— happen these days?" he asked, genuinely curious and desperately hoping to distract him from whatever the problem at hand was. It was a success, at least partially, and Alexander smiled as he chanced a quick look in his direction.

"In the way it was done in the beginning. Visiting the City of Bones can be too risky sometimes, so we did it on our own in Central Park. We built a ring of fire, said the words, drew our runes and took each other's blood." Before Magnus had had the chance to digest the new knowledge, he went on. "It's just how most of our rituals happen nowadays. We were planning on taking Max to the Silent Brothers for his first rune because it would be much safer that way, but with Valentine on the loose outside of Idris, it's just not worth it."

Any words of compassion that Magnus had been ready to offer got stuck in his throat and he made a strangled sound that he couldn't fully accept he was the source of; one distraught enough to have Alexander glancing away from the road again.

"What is it?" he asked as if he hadn't just turned the entire world on its head.

It couldn't be. Magnus had spent _years_ tracking down the Circle's leftovers – the ones who had remained in the human world – and there was no way he wouldn't have known. Someone would have told him if they had known... if they had known. It was a big _if_ , apparently, since another thing Magnus was sure of was that the Shadowhunters left in Idris had thought him to be gone until very recently too.

"Valentine's dead," Magnus managed, only to have the Shadowhunter scowl as he focused back on driving and the look in his eyes alone was enough to convince him that he fully believed what he was saying: there was much more anger simmering under the surface now than when he'd faced the demons before.

"Not yet, but we're working on it." When there was no response, he turned to look at him once more, confusion and bewilderment suddenly replacing the determination. "You knew that already, didn't you?"

Magnus shook his head. _So_ many things had fallen into place suddenly and he hated nothing more than the fact that he had never managed to see it before. Well, nothing apart from the fact that he had trusted the Queen's promises in the first place. _I can send someone to you to tell you if anything changes_. She had said that she could, not that she _would_ and with Seelies, there was a world of difference between the two. Magnus had never quite learnt to figure that out and he hadn't really tried to: he had hoped that the threat of a repeat performance of the Uprising would be enough to keep her in line.

"The Queen's scouts bring her news from the remnants of the Circle sometimes," he managed at last. They did, but it was never anything important; never anything that could even warrant tracking them down. If not entirely fabricated, the news must have been of the harmless type, ones that he wouldn't pay much attention to. "So I assumed I didn't need to do it for myself anymore."

Whatever Alexander said in response to that was drowned out by the maelstrom in Magnus's mind. Why, _why_ would she need to keep quiet about this? Why go through all the trouble of trying to lie despite her inability to do it, just so she could keep him in the dark about this? She must have known for _months_ , if not years. From what he had heard, Valentine had only made his way through the outside world now, but he must have spent the last twenty years in Idris and without doubt, the Queen had her spies there too – enough of them to be able to find him. Magnus had made sure very early on that she knew that he would do anything to oppose Valentine if he needed to; if anything, she should have come to him first, but she _hadn't_.

Which didn't really leave him with many assumptions to make apart from the obvious one: for one reason or another, the Queen had thought that siding with Valentine instead of him would be the more beneficial thing to do.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes: This one is mainly just plot and I sort of make up for the lack of interaction here in the next chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless! Feedback is, as always, more than welcome. ;3**

* * *

"I don't like this."

No matter what the situation they had found themselves in was, Magnus thought, it would have been quite an achievement to figure out what Raphael meant. He always found something to dislike regardless of the circumstances, so it wasn't exactly a new development and on a regular day, no one would have thought much of it.

Today was not a regular day. Magnus had made sure that Luke and Raphael – and Catarina, who was supposed to be here any moment now but, knowing her, would probably take a few more hours to actually arrive given how busy she always was with work – had known that before they had made the decision to come here. He'd told them so as soon as he'd managed to get in touch with all of them without turning the severity of the situation into something that it wasn't.

Not that he'd actually managed to explain its magnitude, of course. If it was up to him, he would have called every Warlock in the city and told them to try and run as far away from any portal to the Seelie World that they knew of. He would do his best to get that done soon enough, but for now, this had to be his first priority: letting the leaders of the local Downworlders and his closest friends know as soon as possible. He hadn't been able to get hold of Ragnor yet and with the new knowledge he had, that worried him much more than it usually would.

"Neither do I, but trust me, it's the only safe place I can think of."

Magnus's home had originally been built on holy ground and even if it had lost all ties to its previous purpose as the years went on, it made sense that Raphael would still feel mild discomfort upon entering the building. It had been unavoidable, though; Magnus really didn't have that many options. Trying to keep the Queen out of any space at all was difficult even for someone with his skills and position in their society, so he'd resorted to the classic methods of chasing Seelies away from his property. It helped that this place had been _designed_ to keep Downworlders in general at bay – something it still didn't let him forget nearly twenty years later when he encountered a trap he somehow hadn't stumbled upon before – and so it didn't even seem suspicious that the main gates and everything else around the yard was made of the sturdiest iron that money could buy.

"I was just about to call you," Luke said, clearly perplexed by the anxiety reigning over the room. He'd been able to sense that something was amiss last night too, of course, but Magnus knew that even the _scent_ of his emotions had to be different now – the worry he felt for his people was now mixed with outright terror at the conclusions he'd made by the time Alexander had dropped him off and had promptly disappeared for the next two days. It was what they had agreed on and Magnus wasn't sure he wanted a Shadowhunter anywhere in his vicinity just now anyway, but it was different with him: the entire conversation had started with him talking about how they were trying to hide from Valentine and that made the distinction all the more obvious.

It had been years since Magnus had tried to differentiate between individual Nephilim and their allegiance. They as a whole had been the enemy for so long, with even the ones he had _liked_ being cautiously friendly with him at best, that seeing one of them like this – alone with his family against everyone else in the world – had been both unsettling and more than Magnus had had the desire to know.

He was better off without this, really. He had hired the man to be his _bodyguard_ , for Lilith's sake; he wasn't supposed to become so troubled when he mentioned whatever hardships he was going through. That was the reason he had agreed on the suggestion for a Lightwood in the first place – he had thought that the memory of Maryse and Robert and everything they had done to his people – everything they had _said_ before they'd been released after their questioning – would be enough to discourage him from any ill-advised compassion he could be tempted to feel. Back during the Uprising, just the two of them had been enough to convince him that he should choose the Seelie Queen's side, even if it was only to make sure that no one would ever dare to do what they had.

Well, mission accomplished. As far as he was aware, there were next to no Nephilim in the mundane world that dared to do much at all these days. Magnus wasn't sure whether he was happy with that fact or not, but either way, the Shadowhunter in question wasn't here now. He tried to redirect his attention back to the matter at hand – much more urgent and hitting much closer to home than the memory of the Circle did. That was all it was, after all, memories, and Valentine was _here_ , somewhere close, much more real and much more threatening than those among his supporters who hadn't left Idris in the last decade or so.

"Why?" he asked, trying to mask the fact that he had spaced out – yet another thing that would make the situation seem even more dire than it really was. "Has something happened with the pack?"

"It's not that." A small mercy, really, after all the trouble they had gone through recently when the pack's leader had changed over some territory dispute that Magnus had done his very best to stay out of. "Actually, you're not gonna believe what it is. Jocelyn Fairchild and her daughter Clary have gone missing; they've been living in New York ever since Valentine's death. I _know_ we should keep out of Shadowhunter business but it's been a month already and I've been thinking that we should start looking for them after all. She did try to stop Valentine before she ran away and if this is about old grudges, then we need to contain the situation before it escalates."

"Clary?" This shouldn't have been the most crucial part of it. The mention of Jocelyn Fairchild – who, according to Magnus's sources, had died in the fire that had supposedly killed her husband and who had apparently been in hiding _with Luke's knowledge_ ever since – was enough of a red flag given the circumstances, but it was what caught his attention first. The memory of the conversation he'd overheard just last night was still fresh in Magnus's memory and he almost winced at the implications of what it could mean. "You're sure that's her name?"

"Yes, of course. I've been checking up on them for the last twenty years." Luke's confusion made way to impatience. "Is this _important_? Because I think it might have something to do with—"

"Valentine's not dead."

He hadn't meant to say it like this. Magnus had had a _plan_ – he had wanted to do it as carefully as possible, taking the fact that the man had been Luke's parabatai into consideration. From what he knew, a transformation into a Downworlder was enough to break the physical bond between the two people, but not always enough to cut them off completely from one another; not when there was still something unfinished between them. And there was plenty of that when it came to this particular pair: Luke had never seemed to fully come to terms with what had happened and now when he knew that he had been helping Valentine's wife and daughter find their place in the world for so long, Magnus could make sense of that much more easily.

"Don't be ridiculous." Despite the dismissal, Raphael sounded unsure. He had his own sources of information, of course, but Magnus could bet that he hadn't even _thought_ of looking for Valentine in the recent years. That made two of them. "Of course he is. His home burned down with him inside it; you said it yourself. That was _twenty years ago_ , Magnus, why would he choose to resurface now?"

"I can't tell you." He had never been too good at grasping any of the Nephilim's way of thinking and he didn't particularly _want_ to be, but it would have been rather useful now. "But I'm sure of it. The person who told me— he would have no reason to lie to me. The Queen knows, there's no way she doesn't, so I'm assuming that she thinks he could be useful to her in the future."

"He couldn't have survived the fire." Luke still seemed shaken and Magnus couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through his mind right now. Even if there was nothing that connected him to Valentine, they had shared a soul for far too long and, if Magnus's suspicions were correct and Valentine had been the one to kidnap Jocelyn Fairchild now, then he had managed to take something else away from him even thousands of miles away from their home, so many years later. "They found the body, Amatis _told_ me about it. She was there when the news came."

"They found bones," Magnus said. He was trying to salvage what was left of the man's control over the situation, but it was a lost cause by now: he seemed distant and withdrawn, as if he was suddenly in a completely different world. Or, if Magnus had to guess, a completely different _time_. A time of his life that he had left behind and had desperately tried to forget, only to have it come out and haunt him. "That was all it was. No one ever tried to make sure it was really him and his son, because it was the only logical option and they just assumed— I'm sorry, Luke."

Magnus had never met a Shadowhunter who had reacted well to being told that. _What are you sorry for?,_ a Nephilim child had asked him just a few years back when Magnus had seen him kill a Ravener demon in an alley all on his own and had asked him where his parents were, only to learn that they were dead. _You didn't kill them, did you? So why are you apologising?_ Trying to explain that it was just what people said hadn't gone over too well – and for all he knew, Magnus _could_ have been the one to kill them – so he'd preferred to end the conversation there. It only made sense that Luke would react the same way, but Magnus was at a loss for what else he was supposed to _say_.

"If Jocelyn is gone, he might have something to do with it. He has more than enough reasons to want to find her if he's only started trying now. But," he continued, desperate for the news to not be all bad, "I think I might know where her daughter is. I'm not sure if she'll want to talk," he added just to be safe, "but I think she's in safe hands and it might be worth a try. If she knows something about her mother—"

"She'll want to talk," Luka said, already getting up from his seat. Raphael sighed and made to stand up too and under other circumstances, Magnus would have offered him a ride home – sunrise was in about an hour – but the time seemed rather _unfortunate_ for that. "Take me to her."

The flat was buzzing with excitement and apprehension as everyone prepared for the ceremony as best as they could. It wouldn't be much of a ceremony, really, not without the usual celebration and the Silent Brothers who were supposed to take care of the entire process, but Max deserved something better than what any of them had got in their own time. Come to think of it, he was probably looking forward to it the most among all of them, blind to the chaos that reigned around him at the prospect of finally getting to feel the power of rune magic.

"He'll be fine," Isabelle said when Alec voiced some of his worries. She would have tried to comfort him even if he hadn't, he suspected; this day had been on all their minds for quite a while now. "We both took it well enough when we were runed even without going through all the protocols and he's not alone. He's got us now. He's been doing great with his training; there's no way his body would reject the Mark."

"I know." This was the last thing Alec wanted, to burden his sister even more when she was already dealing with so much, but it wouldn't be a good idea to put it off for much longer. They could never know when things would go wrong and Max would be much more capable of protecting himself if he had access to his body's full potential. Izzy would be back in the field soon and Clary would follow her when she had gone through the basic training she needed to survive in the Shadow World, so there would be no one left to keep him safe around the clock.

In theory, it all sounded perfectly reasonable. No one had protested when they had made the decision – they had all started their first jobs around Max's age and had managed just fine – apart from Clary, but she had always been easily scandalised by their world's habits and rituals. In theory, the chances of something going wrong with the angelic rune – and the process in general – were rather slim.

In practice, things were quite different. The anxiety that had taken over everyone was through the roof and Alec had caught himself being far too snappish ever since he had opened his eyes about an hour ago, but he couldn't help it: with so many things on his mind, it was only a matter of time before he completely lost his cool. Clary had been quiet and withdrawn ever all morning in wordless protest towards their planned events, which inevitably affected Max too, Isabelle had been pacing from room to room restlessly before Alec had called her over and Jace— well, Jace was actually still catching up on sleep after his last shift, but Alec could tell that he'd been nervous about the ceremony for weeks now. The two of them had always tried to keep each other in check emotions-wise whenever things got tough, but it had always been much more difficult to try and do that when they were thinking about the same thing. Despite their best efforts, all they ever did was feed into each other's worry until it had become almost unbearable.

"We'll start as soon as he says that he's ready," Izzy said. She'd had more time to talk to Max over the past few weeks than him and his parabatai combined and it showed – she had prepared for today better than anyone else had. "I don't think he would actually be scared enough to change his mind, but the calmer he is when he receives the rune, the better. We don't know what we're doing as it is; no need to risk complications."

"It's not going to be that hard." It wasn't often that Alec said anything of the sort, but it seemed like the most appropriate reaction now, especially since he was trying to convince himself as well as her. He had expected the procedure to be different from what it was actually shaping up to be; had planned to make sure that everything would go smoothly, but there had been no way for him to predict any of the things that had happened in the meantime. All of them crossing half the city together would draw far too much attention and they had all agreed that they couldn't afford it even if it was for the sake of safety; not with Valentine still hiding only the Angel knew where. Given Jocelyn's disappearance, it was likely that he was somewhere in the city and even the thought of him seeing Jace – or, worse, of actually _recognising_ him – sent cold shivers down Alec's spine. "I remember _your_ ceremony. We called a Silent Brother here and it was the day before Mother and Father left for Idris, so you must have been very scared, but it all went perfectly well."

Alec himself had been scared too, even if he had done his best to put on a brave face for his sister's sake. The prospect of being left alone to care for his siblings in New York had _terrified_ him at the time and when Jace – almost his age and already rather independent – had showed up, Alec had felt the need to be infinitely more responsible and the relief of having someone to help him all at the same time. He had never felt truly helpless in the years of his parents's absence despite the uncertainty at the beginning and he didn't intend to let himself fall into that trap now.

"You're right." Isabelle leant against his shoulder with a sigh. She didn't seem to have slept too much last night either and it made her look even paler than before. Or maybe she had been this way ever since she had stopped working with the clan, Alec wasn't sure. There was never any _time_ for him to check on her and lately, he had been almost entirely unable to keep track of her progress. Seeing her like this made the realisation even harder to bear, but he kept it to himself: no reason to discourage her. Clary had said that the cleansing was painful even with the iratzes, but she was getting slightly better every day and Alec knew her well enough to know that not mentioning it was for the best. It was what their relationship had always been like; the sympathy they felt for each other mostly transmitted in the silence in-between. "We may as well get the ritual started already," she added when Jace appeared in the kitchen's doorframe, still rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. Alec nodded and got to his feet, bracing himself as if he was about to go into battle.

"Sure," he said and he had only just managed to convince himself that it was time and that nothing would go wrong when his phone went off, the sharp ringing startling them all out of their reverie in the silence of the room.

 _Of course_. Just when he had thought that it would all go according to plan...

"Magnus?" He hadn't meant to sound worried – there was a reason the man had agreed to giving him a day off, after all, and it had been because whatever work he'd had to do was apparently unproblematic enough for the occasion – but he suspected that he did anyway. The fact that it was happening _now_ only enhanced that suspicion, as he felt as if he hadn't been entirely himself for the past twenty-four hours. "Is everything all right?"

"Quite so." If he didn't know better, Alec would have called his tone _apprehensive_. Or hesitant, in the very least – like he wasn't sure if he wanted to go on. "I was just wondering— is this a good time?"

"Er. Not really." Alec still found the way the High Warlock expected him to talk around him a little too familiar, but he had somehow eased into it eventually when he'd realised that the honesty was more appreciated than the pleasantries he was used to from the clan. "Do you need help?"

"It's nothing urgent," Magnus assured him, but something else entirely seemed to hide behind the words even over the phone. "I just needed to ask— does Clary Morgenstern live with you, by any chance?"

Alec froze. He hadn't expected this to come up, especially not since Magnus had never asked about his family outside the few times he had overheard a conversation or had shown interest in one thing or another about his life in the human world. The sudden intrusion with something so specific had been rather unexpected and even if he wasn't exactly _afraid_ – his employer hadn't done anything to deserve it – it was safe to say that Alec hadn't seen it coming. Not about _Clary_ of all people either, since they all worked so hard to keep her away from the New York Downworld.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Magnus sounded a little unsure now. "It's just that Luke Garroway is here and he thinks she'll want to talk to him; I was thinking that maybe I could arrange them a meeting somewhere safe if that was the case. So if you know where she is and if you could ask her – not now, whenever you can – that would be wonderful."

He was giving him a way out, Alec realised. Magnus had heard him talk to Jace a couple of days ago and there was no way he had forgotten the mention of her name; otherwise he would have never thought of looking for her here in the first place. Still, it had clearly come to mind later on that there was no way that this wasn't a sensitive topic – the daughter of Valentine Morgenstern would already be in the spotlight of their world if she hadn't picked them as a place to hide – and had decided to give him time to think things through and talk to her before giving him an answer. It was a better opportunity than anything Alec had imagined when he'd thought about the moment someone would discover her and he was grateful for it. "That'll do. Is there anything else?"

"No," Magnus said and Alec could hear faint voices in the background, increasingly agitated with what he assumed were impatient questions and then the unmistakable sound of the speaker being covered by a hand, as if the Warlock wanted to keep his surroundings private. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, the connection cut off and Alec shifted his attention from his phone to Jace and Izzy's curious eyes. "We'll talk later," he waved them off decisively. They were _not_ going to get into this now; he could already see that the conversation would take hours. "Let's get this over with."

It wasn't the best sentiment to start a runing ceremony with, but with everything that was going on – and now Clary's, what, Werewolf stepfather? looking for her – the last thing Alec wanted to think about was this. The sooner they were done with it, the better – it would be enough to make him stop worrying if he could make sure that everything had gone according to plan, and there was no better way to do that than now, while he was still here.

"Come on, buddy," Jace was just saying when Alec entered the room and Max came running, already dressed up for the occasion. Thankfully, somewhere along the line he had managed to gain back the impatience he had felt before and it was the best outcome they could have hoped for – ceremonies that started with reluctant would-be Shadowhunters rarely ended well. "You ready to receive your first rune?"

"I'm ready," Max confirmed while rolling up the sleeve of his right hand and not for the first time, Alec wished he could share his enthusiasm about the world. As it was, he just gripped his stele tighter and stepped closer, his free hand holding on to his little brother's to make sure that he wouldn't flinch away. This was the most important part – all he had to do was draw the rune and if they were lucky, that would mean that the most difficult part was over.

"Okay," he said and pressed the tip of his stele against the spot they had discussed the day before. "Now, repeat after me. To the Angel I entrust my life..."


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes: The Magnus/Alec interaction promised in last chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this and, as always, feedback is most welcome! I'd love to know what you think.**

* * *

"I don't think I'm going to need help," Alec said as he took a hesitant first step up the hill. It hadn't seemed particularly dangerous so far, no matter what Magnus's warnings had included just a few minutes prior and while he wasn't one to downplay the risks that usually surrounded him, nothing even remotely alarming had happened so far.

"It could be because you have angel blood," Magnus shrugged from the other wise, "and nothing more. If it's the two of us and there _is_ a trap – or an entrance – here, the mix will probably set the magic in motion."

"Maybe," Alec murmured, but didn't make a move on. The plan as he had just laid it out had sounded decent enough before he had actually agreed to it, but his point of view had changed significantly now that he was finally on Seelie territory and the change had been more noticeable than he'd expected it to be. It had never happened before – the few times he'd bargained with the Queen's men for one thing or another, usually just for small favours or exchanges, had always been outside of their domain – and the feeling was unlike anything he had experienced in the past.

The small hill and the pond next to it were the only things in the world that seemed real. Everything else – the city and its noises, the park around them, even Magnus less than a foot away from him – was somehow dimmed; too distant for him to be able to reach. His approach towards the situation had suddenly changed too and he felt significantly more relaxed without being sure why, like no matter how hard he tried to focus, everything in his body and mind was trying to convince him that he didn't have a care in the world.

"Anything?" Magnus asked and it was as if the words were coming from a universe away. Alec shook his head after a quick but careful examination of his surroundings, this time a little more thorough even through the slight haze that had taken over him. Everything was deceptively still and just as quiet, resembling a painting more than anything real he had ever seen before.

"Not really." He only hoped that that wouldn't change once Magnus made a move. They had yet to test the Warlock's theory and the thought made him more than a little apprehensive.

"Okay, I'm coming in," he said eventually, apparently sure by now that Alec's presence wouldn't trigger whatever hidden magic or mechanism he had expected it to. And it was all about expectations, really – despite the warning, Magnus seemed much less certain in the success of this idea than he had been when he had first laid it out for Alec's consideration shortly after his arrival at his home today.

The plan had been simple enough. While he was fully aware that he couldn't challenge the Seelie Queen and openly question her decisions in front of her Court without losing his head, Magnus wasn't willing to just let her do as she pleased either. He wanted to try and track Valentine down on his own and he would need the Seelie Realm and its magic to override the defences against tracking that the man had put around himself. It wouldn't be easy – the Queen would do anything in her power to prevent it since it was very likely that she already knew someone would try something of the sort once the news of the man's return started circulating in the city – but it was their best shot so far.

He had warned Alec beforehand that it would be dangerous; more so than his usual duties. Ideas of this volume had nothing to do with what he had agreed on when he'd signed his contract, so he had given him the option to either disagree and just guard the entrance that would lead him away from the city while Magnus ventured inside alone or ask for more money just in case it proved to be even more difficult than he had expected.

Alec hadn't even had to take it all into consideration before he had declined both options. They were safe on the money front for now, so that part of it hadn't been a factor and he had realised that this wouldn't be anything remotely like his usual jobs when Magnus had got out of the car and had joined in on his demon hunt on one of his first nights in the position. He had gradually got used to it in the weeks that had followed and by now, there wasn't much that could actually surprise him, so he'd agreed without a second thought.

And it wasn't just that; he'd said so to Magnus before they had left his mansion. He wanted to find Valentine just as much and even if he'd been asked to help free of charge, he knew full well that he would have still jumped at the opportunity. There was _nothing_ in this world that could compare to the relief he would feel once he knew that Morgenstern was either dead or secured in a cell in Idris and if he was being given the opportunity to make sure for himself that that would happen, then he had no intention of letting it get away.

That was what had eventually brought them here – on the very edge of the only known entrance to the Seelie Realm in New York City. It was the dead of night and Magnus had guessed that it would be a better time than any other. According to him, any guards that roamed the boundaries of the kingdom were busier with guarding it from the Unseelie King's people at night and wouldn't be at all concerned about the mundane world. That was another thing that he had noticed over the years, apparently; the Queen wouldn't even think to assume that anyone who knew enough about the Shadow World to find this entrance would ever dare intrude without a specific invitation. The entire ordeal was fuelled by her arrogance and Magnus's optimism and under normal circumstances, it would have gone against every fibre of Alec's being to agree to anything as risky and easily derailed as this. As it were, he was desperate enough to try just about anything.

Still, when Magnus came through, the peaceful scenery around them didn't seem to react to his presence any differently than it had to Alec's. It was only when he leant down and started drawing intricate shapes in the grass under their feet, magic sparking at his fingertips, that the earth started shifting, moving aside and revealing something that would have looked like just about any other tunnel in the city if it hadn't been for the faint glow of the flowers creeping up the walls inside.

"Follow me," Magnus said, voice low as he carefully made his way down through the entrance and into what Alec could only assume was the first real boundary of the Seelie Realm.

Alec felt the difference the moment he did the same; the sudden _shift_ in the air around him so easily noticeable that he had to take it all in. It was significantly cooler down here when compared to the residual heat from the day before that reigned over the world above the surface, but it wasn't just that – it was difficult to miss the magic that surrounded them from every corner. It wasn't the same deceivingly sweet calmness that had overwhelmed him just a few minutes ago, but it wasn't far from that either; the unspoken promise of better things to come _if only he would step forward_ stronger than ever.

"Now what?" Alec whispered, too tense to actually fall under the spell that was clearly meant to lure mortals away from whatever it was they had entered the land under the hill for. He'd activated every stealth-related rune he'd been able to think of, but it wasn't enough to stop the worlds from echoing in the narrow space. "How do we find the trace?"

"There must be a portal nearby," Magnus said, and there was an edge of uncertainty to his voice. The darkness around them dissipated suddenly and Alec narrowed his eyes against the light that seemed to pour out from the Warlock's fingers. "Usually operated by Seelies, but there won't be anyone there at this time of the night. If there were, they would have noticed us already." It shouldn't have been a particularly comforting thought, but it was better than the previous lack of information, Alec supposed, so he motioned at him to keep going. "Once we get there, we'll try to activate it. That's what I was talking about – the Queen depends on her knights to keep her safe and anything else would just react to the right kind of blood."

"And you think that the two of us combined will do the trick?" It wasn't the _worst_ plan he had heard, but there was still a rather obvious flaw that Alec couldn't help but point out. "We both have human blood too."

"Alexander." It rarely meant anything good when Magnus said his name like this; with a little exasperation and a lot of giving in. "Do you trust me?"

It was a genuine question. He could see it in the look in Magnus's eyes and in the way he refused to look away unlike any other time, and it threw Alec off for a moment. Did he? _Could_ he, in such a delicate situation? If they were to be found out somehow – if the Seelie Queen killed them both – then who could know what would happen to his family? It would be all up to Jace to keep them safe and he had enough on his mind with Valentine; how would he ever be able to deal with him all on his own if he had the Seelies on his back too? There was no doubt that the Queen would make the connection quickly – they were the biggest group of Shadowhunters living together in New York – and from then on, he could only assume what she would do to make sure that no one else would follow his example.

So if he was to go through this, he would have to be honest, both with himself and with Magnus and his time for reflection on the matter was rather limited. Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to find out what the answer would have to be. "Yes," he said with a quick nod and without an ounce of hesitation. They had the same goal anyway and Magnus had never done anything that could have made him doubt his intentions despite his alliance with the Queen. It was his _actions_ that mattered and Alec couldn't quite believe that he was willing to settle for that, but it was as good as it would get. "I do."

"Good." Magnus's expression, even in the limited light in front of them, seemed inordinately pleased. "Then hurry up. We need to get there as soon as possible. It's deserted, but you can never be too careful down here."

Even though he had never crossed that particular line before, Alec was inclined to trust him on that too just based on the stories he'd heard and they made the walk down to the portal's supposed spot in silence, both of them too tense to try and do anything but follow the directions which Magnus's magic gave them.

The room with the portal appeared rather abruptly, suddenly right in front of them as they rounded a corner. It emitted the same soft shimmer as everything else in the Seelie Realm that Alec had seen so far, but didn't seem otherwise active; the strange substance that swirled inside it didn't take a certain shape even after they approached it. Alec had only seen one portal in his life – the one that had taken his parents to Idris – and it had done just that; the magic inside it had transformed into a picture of their desired destination as soon as they had thought of it. This one didn't seem inclined to do the same; not even when Alec tried to focus on nothing but _Valentine Morgenstern_ as a way to get the magic to give him what he wanted.

"I told you, it's Seelie operated," Magnus said as if he had been thinking the very same thing. He probably had – the horror that had fogged up his eyes the night Alec had told him the truth was as good a motivation as any. "But I might have an idea on how to fix that. Give me your hand."

"What are we going to do?" Alec complied easily, eager to get this over with as soon as possible. The longer they spent here, the easier it would be for them to be discovered and just the thought was enough to send chills down his spine. They would be severely outnumbered in a foreign place that neither of them could work with particularly well and, to make matters worse, it was a well known fact that everything in the Seelie Realm – from the people to the trees and birds – obeyed the Queen and that she didn't mind using it all as a makeshift weapon if needed.

"I'm going to draw from your angelic power – your blood," Magnus said, eyes already closed in concentration. "And I'll have to try and tone down the human halves in both of us with my magic. Seelies are nothing but demonic and angelic ancestry; anything they've built would consider this an insult if any attempt at lying is detected."

With that, he redirected his attention to the spell and it was one of the strangest sensations that Alec had ever experienced. There was a _pull_ somewhere inside him; something deep and powerful and much older than him fighting to make itself known. He had always taken the runes they used into account when he thought about the Angel's gifts and had never really considered just how deeply rooted his angel blood was, only to become painfully conscious of it now as Magnus called it to the surface. It felt overwhelming, almost, and not entirely under his control, but not necessarily something he _minded_.

He could tell when it started working. Alec had closed his eyes as well, trying to help as much as he could, but he could still see through his eyelids as the light from the portal suddenly became brighter, its warmth creeping closer and closer to him. He channelled all of his concentration towards his end goal once more – _Valentine Morgenstern, show me Valentine Morgenstern_ – and was just about to try and step through the portal when Magnus let go of his hand.

"Got him. We can't go there now," he interrupted before Alec had had the chance to speak. "He's not alone. I don't know how he's got them past the wards around the city, but I can feel the trace of your specific brand of magic on the other side and the place is bursting with Shadowhunters. No matter how good you are, you can't handle that on your own and I am _not_ going in there without backup."

It made sense, Alec reminded himself. Magnus was who he was – and held the position that he did – because he had survived the Circle and had managed to beat them. That didn't necessarily mean that he was sure that it would happen again, especially since it was highly unlikely that he would get the Queen's support now.

But another part of him – less rational and much more vengeful – demanded a resolution _now_. He had always managed to rein it in somehow over the years, but it was much more difficult when they were so close and nodding – a quick, curt gesture to show his assent – took more willpower than he had expected it to. "Of course," he agreed. Despite the man's reassurances that he didn't need to bother with formalities, he hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to _work_ for him. He couldn't allow himself to be openly rebellious, especially if he knew that he was in the wrong. "It's for the best."

"I'm glad we agree on that." Magnus patted him on the back, as if that was enough to settle the conflict inside them both, and then his attention moved on to the direction they had come from. "We need to get out of here as quietly as possible. It'll be sunrise in about an hour; we can't afford to still be here when that happens. I'll tell you more about the location once we're out and then when I'm ready, I can open a portal of my own to get there."

With a curt nod, Alec turned on his heel and headed down the corridor that led towards the exit. Although there was no sign of a potential attack – despite the ringing silence surrounding them, he couldn't hear even a hint of someone approaching – he kept his hand on the handle of his Seraph blade, ready to strike if the need for that came.

Much to his relief, that wasn't the case. Sooner rather than later, he found himself back on the hill where they'd started and despite the warmth in the summer air, Alec was _grateful_ for the change of scenery. It was _home_ and it was much more familiar than the haunting beauty of the Seelie Realm and he only diverted his attention away from all the differences when his phone started vibrating in his pocket.

It was always like this these days, it seemed. If it was his day off, Magnus would need something that would require urgent attention. If it wasn't, someone from home would be in trouble. He had given up trying to juggle it all at some point and had settled with doing what he could with the time he had. He hadn't even had the chance to actually talk to Clary about Luke and whether she wanted to meet him – it had been just a day and a half and as much as he didn't approve of her presence in their group, he had grown to like her just enough to want to spare her the false hopes if it turned out that she couldn't actually reunite with her friend yet. Keeping her in the dark wasn't ideal either, but it was the best he had for now.

But now, as he looked at the string of missed messages on his screen, he didn't even think of delaying this. They were all from Isabelle and he called immediately, waiting with bated breath for her to pick up.

"We need to get to the City of Bones as soon as possible," his sister said instead of a greeting. "Max is working up a fever and he's not sick; there's nothing else wrong with him. It _has_ to be about the rune."

"Is the area red?" It was an automatic question and perhaps not the most adequate choice given that Isabelle sounded like she was on the verge of tears, but it was the best he could do. "Is the rune swelling?" How, _how_ had this happened? He had taken all the safety measures he'd been able to think of, but clearly it still hadn't been enough. There was a different kind of magic behind the stele work of a Silent Brother and no matter what Alec did, he couldn't invoke the exact same response.

"It's just red for now." Now that she'd told him the news, some of the panic had subdued, but Izzy still sounded shaken enough for her voice to be nearly unrecognisable. "I called Jace too, but he'll be home in half an hour, so it's just me and Clary. I just wanted to let you know," she hurried to add before Alec had had the chance to ask, "that that's why we'll be gone by the time you get home. Clary says that her mother has a car somewhere near their place in Brooklyn and she's still got the keys with her, so if she can find it, then we won't even have to get there on foot and won't have to make him walk all the way down to the City of Bones."

"No!" The word was out of Alec's mouth before he'd even realised that he had the intention to speak, but the thought was on just the right side of terrifying for him to blurt it out. "Wait for me; I'm almost done here. I'll pick Jace up on my way home and we can all go together. It'll be safer that way and we won't have to go anywhere near the place _where Jocelyn Morgenstern was kidnapped_." He hadn't meant to make a point of it, but it was too good of an argument for him _not_ to. "It won't be more than an hour, okay? Call me if anything changes."

He hung up as soon as she'd agreed and turned towards Magnus, at a bit of a loss for what he was supposed to say. Just a minute ago, finding where Valentine was and potentially bringing him back to the Clave had been his top priority, but looking at the situation now, he had to admit that it had taken second place. "I— I know this is important, but could we talk tomorrow night?" He hadn't meant to bring his family into this again – Magnus had heard more than enough already from the last time when he'd been curious about it – but telling the truth was the only explanation he could give. "My little brother is in danger and I need to get home as soon as I can, or I don't know what's going to happen."

Not that Alec had any solid idea on how he would make things better, really. He didn't have a safer solution either, but it was likely that at least if they were together, they would be a bigger – and likely a more intimidating – target than just the two of them alone. He trusted his sister more than enough to handle this, but she was still recovering from the yin fen's effect and Clary, no matter how hard she tried, wasn't really a Shadowhunter yet and he wasn't willing to put Max's life in her hands until that was the case.

"Of course," Magnus waved him off. He had this quality about him – acting like nothing that ever happened was really that big of a deal – and Alec had never appreciated it more than he did right now. "Alexander," he called out once he had taken the permission as his cue to leave. "If I may ask... what is wrong with him, exactly?"

"We think it's because of his runing ceremony," Alec said. He wasn't sure why Magnus would want to know about it, but there was no particular reason to keep it a secret either. "We didn't want to risk a trip to the City of Bones, so we just did it at home and his body isn't handling it well."

"I think I could help with that. If you wouldn't mind me doing so, that is." Magnus's expression was surprised; as if he himself hadn't expected to offer his services. "Free of charge," he added just as Alec made to decline. He had to have expected this response, Alec supposed – everyone in the Shadow World knew that the Silent Brothers didn't believe in payment for their services, not when it came to Nephilim, and he couldn't even begin to imagine how much the High Warlock would charge him for something like that. "It's not a complicated spell, but it needs to be done soon after the ceremony – the sooner, the better. And we'll get there faster with my car."

That was what did it, although Alec had already made to agree by the time the Warlock had added that factor to his offer. He would think about it – about all of this and what it would mean in the future – later; for now, he needed to get home as quickly as he could.

"Yes," he said, already picking up the speed as they made their way towards the street where he'd parked Magnus's car. "I suppose we will."


	6. Chapter 5

Alexander drove through the streets of New York with a single-minded focus, more unwavering than Magnus had ever seen him before. He hadn't said a word since they'd got in the car, but he didn't need to – it was obvious that he couldn't take his mind off of his brother's condition and what was going on in his absence. In his years of experience, Magnus had encountered the same struggle far too often. It was one of the worst feelings in the world, really; to be far away when someone you loved was in danger.

Their only stop was at the hotel _Dumort_ , where a man who'd already been waiting on the sidewalk snuck into the backseat without waiting for an invitation, and then drove off again. He seemed to be in a condition similar to Alexander's, the anxiety radiating from his presence without Magnus being able to even take a good look at him, and he only spoke another five minutes into the ride.

"Hello, Mr Bane." It was as decisive as it was hesitant and Magnus twisted in his seat to be able to look at him. "I'm Jace."

"You can call me Magnus," he hurried to say, determined to not have to go through the same thing he had when he'd introduced himself to Alexander. "Raphael mentioned you a few weeks ago."

"He did?" The Shadowhunter raised an eyebrow. "He hasn't complained, I hope."

"Not at all," Magnus said, although he wasn't sure if it was precisely the truth. "He just mentioned that you've taken interest in a local Warlock. Dorothea Rollins?" he clarified when there was no response. "She's an old friend of mine. Granted, we haven't kept in touch over the past couple of years, but I still assumed that I would know if she had got into trouble."

It was a subtle hint, one that not everyone would have picked up on, but his current interlocutor did. His closed off expression turned sardonic and it was clear that he knew just as well as Magnus did that even if she had got into trouble, it wouldn't be up to the local Shadowhunters to deal with that. Not anymore – and it hadn't been for quite a while – but that didn't mean that the Nephilim who lived in some of the biggest Mundane cities around the world didn't still feel obliged to keep some of the peace in the Downworld in place. After all, Magnus could only be at so many places at the same time and, if he was being honest, he preferred to stick to New York, and the Seelie Queen had never been particularly good at implementing the rules they had established after the Uprising.

"That's not the case," was all the man said in the end, his tone as neutral as it had been from the start. "It's just that we think she might know something that we don't about Jocelyn – and about Valentine – because she disappeared the exact same day that she did."

"Did she?" How had he not realised? Magnus had been more than busy lately, what with the chaos that reigned even within the local Downworld Council, but it was still strange that the news had never reached him while a bunch of Shadowhunters had made the connection. Of course, he reminded himself, they had an inside source if Jocelyn's daughter really was living with them, but it still came as a bit of a shock. "And the Vampires didn't know anything about that, I take it?"

"I haven't asked all of them yet," Jace shrugged. "But no, they don't seem to. Vampires don't really mingle with any of the other races, in my experience."

Magnus was sorely tempted to ask how much experience that would be, exactly – even in the half-darkness in the car, the man didn't appear to be older than mid-twenties – but somehow managed to keep it to himself. He was Alexander's friend and even if he hadn't been, it wouldn't be a good idea to try and pick fights with the local Shadowhunters, no matter how much they insisted on digging into matters they had no business even approaching. It wasn't like he could _stop_ them anyway; even now, they were too numerous for him to keep track of without actively trying, and he was well aware that such a proposition would never go over well.

"You're right, they don't," he said instead, biting back the remark at the tip of his tongue. "But really, if you have any questions about the Warlocks in the city, you would be better off asking me about it. They're all in my care, after all."

"Bothering the High Warlock with petty fights doesn't seem like a wise move," Jace said before leaning over the driver's seat to narrow his eyes against the windshield. "Alec, what's taking so long? We should have arrived already."

 _Alec_. Magnus had just been about to note that trying to capture Valentine Morgenstern couldn't really be classified under _petty fights_ when he found himself focusing on that little word instead. It made sense, of course, that the man would have a nickname of some sort, but it was yet another thing that he hadn't expected without knowing why. He had seen his bodyguard mostly in a vacuum, separated from everything else in his life and seeing him in this light was still somewhat of a shock even as they made his way to pick up his little brother so that Magnus could look him over. It wasn't what he'd _expected_. In the years after the Uprising, he had always imagined the local Shadowhunter population to be mostly scattered around the city; lone wolves instead of tightly knit communities like the one that he had stumbled upon here.

"Not from this part of town," Alexander said. "This place is packed full of Vampires." He flashed a quick smile in the rear-view mirror. "We've just never needed to get a car to go to work, so they never notice us."

It was the ease with which he said it that caught Magnus's attention, even if he wasn't actively participating in the conversation. They needed to be careful because of _him_ ; if it had been just another work day, no one would have paid them any mind because so many of the Nephilim worked in this part of town. But here, right now, like this, it wouldn't be too beneficial for any of them to be seen together, especially not for him, so they were moving as quietly as possible, hoping that they wouldn't be noticed.

It was likely a wasted effort, really. Vampires could see in the dark much better than anyone in this car with or without their runes and magic combined and Magnus had been told quite a few times through the years that Angel and Demon blood was all too easy to recognise and tell apart from the one of Mundanes; if anyone had wanted to attack them, he didn't doubt that they would have done so already. It was just that a Warlock and two Shadowhunters would be a rather ambitious target, he supposed, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the sentiment.

By the time they'd reached their apparent destination, it was almost dawn. The sky had already adopted the greyish-pink colour which usually signified that at least half of the Downworld wouldn't be a threat to them any longer and Magnus was only pulled away from that train of thought when he saw two women leaving the building, both of them holding the boy between them by the hands.

"How are you feeling, Max?" Alexander called out when they had all somehow managed to fit into the backseat. Magnus couldn't see his future patient all that well now that he was inside, but when he spoke, it was enough to tell him quite a lot about what condition had to be.

"It's really cold." His voice was nothing but a weak rasp, barely audible even over the gentle hum of the engine as they drove off. "But the rune's still burning." A moment of silence, probably spent in uncertainty how much he was supposed to share. It was clear that he didn't want to worry his brother, but he still added, "And it's getting _darker_."

"You'll be all right." It was one of the girls talking this time, the words hushed despite the fact that not much could be hidden in such a cramped space. "Shadowhunters who reject their first rune completely have a much more powerful reaction than you, and even earlier on, too. It'll be okay."

Magnus glanced at the backseat again. It was still mostly dark inside the car, but he could still see her well enough and what little he could actually make out – her dark hair and brown eyes, as well as the distinct shape of her face – was enough for him to make an assumption as he turned towards Max.

"Your sister's right, you know." He wasn't sure how much comfort the High Warlock's support could actually provide to a Shadowhunter who had grown up in New York, but there wasn't much he could offer before they got back home and he could actually take a look at the source of the problem. "We'll fix you in no time."

Despite the fever shining in his eyes, Max seemed curious at the sight of him. Magnus had to wonder how much they had told him about it before they'd left – what they had prepared him for – but he was quite sure he wouldn't have the opportunity to _ask_. "Are you really a Warlock?"

"Yes," Magnus nodded, amused at the reaction. The boy was clearly taking this better than expected, because he leant forward once more.

"Can I see your Mark? I heard that all Warlocks have one."

"Max," Alexander warned, eyes still focused on the road, but Magnus waved the reprimand away.

"It's okay. It's my eyes, see?" He let the glamour fall away and his vision sharpened considerably all of a sudden, clearing up everything in front of him a little more in the half-darkness of the morning. Getting rid of the magic always had that effect but now, with so many people focused on him, he felt a little more unnerved than he usually would have.

"Awesome," Max noted and lowered his voice as if he didn't want anyone else to hear. "And how much demon blood—"

"That's enough," Jace snapped. Magnus could practically _feel_ how tense they all were and for the first time, it turned out to be a good thing. There were limits to what he was willing to do to distract the young Nephilim from his fever and these kinds of scientific questions about his heritage were a little beyond said limits. The others were clearly aware of that – it was obvious by the silence that had suddenly fallen over all of them and the suspicious amount of fidgeting in the backseat – but they had been too busy to be all that thorough with their newest addition's education.

Well, not really their _newest_ addition. Magnus supposed that that honour would go to Clary Fairchild. It _had_ to be her that he'd seen getting into the car along with Alexander's sister, judging both by what he'd been able to see from her appearance and by the fact that she hadn't said a word since she'd arrived. He didn't want to press her into speaking now if she didn't feel ready for it; from what he could tell, her mother had raised her with no knowledge of the Shadow World whatsoever and he wouldn't be surprised if she was still trying to take it all in now that she was finally part of it.

His mind wandered over to what he'd meant to ask her if he ever got to meet her – or what he'd meant to make Alexander ask her, really, about Luke and whether she really wanted to be _that_ involved into it all. He couldn't imagine what she would say, not with how little he'd actually seen of Jocelyn while she'd still been in the Circle, even if the fact that she hadn't turned her back on Luke was rather promising. He could tell that they had been close before, with the worry that Luke had displayed, and Magnus was less opposed to the idea of helping her than he thought he would be. It was just because of the pack, nothing else; they wouldn't be nowhere near as reliable as their usual state if their leader was so out of sorts about two missing Shadowhunters. All of it had to take second place when compared to the Valentine threat, of course, but they also had to entertain the rather plausible possibility that the two things were connected to one another and— and, without even properly letting himself do it, Magnus had allowed himself to become invested in the life of the locals.

The Queen had warned him against this too many times for him to count and she had never really stopped; not even when years had passed and after his numerous attempts to explain that he wanted nothing to do with them. _Don't pity the Shadowhunters, Warlock_ , she had said as they had watched the Nephilim who had fled Alicante by the hundreds and the ones left behind had sealed them outside of their home country with one last desperate blast of their rune magic, _you agreed to this. They had it coming, you know it as well as I do. Don't help them, no matter what they ask for._

But they hadn't actually done anything to get his attention, had they? He had _wanted_ to help them; had wanted to get involved in the picture that Alexander's words had shaped up in front of him when he had started talking about his family just a week into his employment. What harm could it do? If anything, he would be even safer that way, surrounded by the warriors of the Angel from everywhere. It was an easy explanation, an _excuse_ , almost, to give himself and it was nearly enough to put his mind at ease about it all.

And yet, once they'd arrived home, he found himself more anxious than he'd expected to be. Neither of them seemed too intimidated by the place – they had probably heard about it before coming here – and once they were out of the car, Alexander took it upon himself to get his brother inside the building. He was practically carrying him at this point and the pang of concern Magnus felt was just as unexpected as the realisation he'd had just a few minutes prior. He had done this, he reminded himself, he had decided that he could let them in and for the first time in twenty years, he didn't feel the slightest bit of worry that any of them would harm him.

He took another quick look at their little group just in case, but it was enough for him to be sure – they were worried and even with the usual unease that came from being in the High Warlock's company, none of them looked the slightest bit intimidating when it came to him. Clary Fairchild was even smiling at him and it was as genuine a reaction as he could get from any of them – she was a Shadowhunter by blood, but she didn't bear the same history as her friends and later, when he had the time, Magnus would have to have quite the talk with her; there was an inordinate amount of information she could likely give him for someone so _uninformed_ about their world.

Once they were inside, Magnus's magic easing the hassle of the numerous locked doors that stood in their way, they ended up in the old infirmary in the left wing of the building. He had _known_ that it would be a good choice to bring him home given the history of the place and the boy seemed better already when his brother carefully got him to lie down in one of the beds; his skin gaining a healthier shade now that he didn't have to strain himself any longer.

"Do you mind waiting outside?" Magnus knew that Alexander wouldn't be the only one; soon enough, the entire group would arrive upstairs and would want answers as soon as possible and he knew himself well enough to be aware that those wouldn't be the working conditions he needed. "It'll be a lot of work and I need to be able to focus."

"Of course." Alexander got up and made for the door, still hesitant in his step. He didn't want to leave, but he would if that was what it took to have the process done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. _A soldier to a fault_. "We can all see him later, right?"

"Of course," Magnus echoed with a smile. This was his home, but it was also a hospital like any other where the patient's loved ones were concerned and he had spent enough time in such places to know exactly what he needed to say. "Just— tell the others, okay? It _will_ take a while, but you just need to be patient."

After another nod, his bodyguard made himself scarce and Magnus took the _click_ of the door closing as his cue to begin the procedure. By now, Max was barely conscious, his fever getting the better of him as his body shook with the tremors it caused. The rune on his forearm was almost painful to look at, especially since it was where the focus of his magic would have to be for the next hour – if he was lucky.

"Are you ready?" he asked, although he knew what the answer would be – it was always the same with Shadowhunters, no matter how young they happened to be.

"Yes."

 **o.O.o**

"He's sleeping," Magnus said as soon as he came out and several pairs of hopeful eyes landed on him while his guests got to their feet. He wasn't really surprised to see them all waiting in the hallway outside, but he still wanted to stop them before they'd had the chance to make too much noise. "But he's okay. I wouldn't disturb him yet." No one protested, so Magnus went on. "Alexander, could I have a word?"

He waited until they were out of earshot before he spoke again, careful not to unsettle what little peace the group he'd let inside his home had managed to achieve. And what a group it was – now, in the daylight, it was much easier to recognise them; to see their parents's eyes looking back at him as if no time had passed at all. It was haunting and unwelcome and he didn't want any of it and yet—and yet he couldn't bring himself to feel any resentment towards them. The oldest of them had been _children_ when it had all happened. They could barely remember any of it. He had long since grown tired of putting the blame for their parents's sins on children, what with all the people who had done the same with him, and the thought was as liberating as it was draining.

 _This_ wasn't what he had intended when he had asked for a bodyguard. He'd wanted someone _safe_ who wouldn't ask too many questions and would follow him anywhere and wouldn't get in the way when he decided that he had to do things the way he thought was right. Instead, he'd received this – a pack of Shadowhunters at his doorstep – and neither of them had _asked_ for anything. He had been the one to make the first step and offer his services and now he was surrounded by the ghosts of the Circle from everywhere, so similar and yet not at all once they actually spoke.

It was what had driven him to pull Alexander aside, too – if he didn't acknowledge that an invisible border had been crossed at some point, then it would only get more unbearable as time went on and he couldn't acknowledge it in front of people he barely knew. If he could talk in front of anyone here, it was him.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to move him back across the city just yet," he started, reaching out so that he could place one hand on the man's shoulder in an almost instinctive gesture of sympathy before he'd had the chance to think it through. Alexander didn't pull away, which he considered to be a generally good sign when taking all their previous conversations into account. "Even with the car, and no matter how careful you are— it might take a few days before it's completely safe. I'm not going to ask any of you to leave him behind and go home," he hurried to add when he sensed that he would be interrupted soon. "You're free to stay as long as you like. This place is more than big enough for all of you and it's just me here, so if it doesn't bother you—"

"I'll talk to the others." It wasn't quite a _yes_ yet – it wouldn't be until he got a green light from everyone else, Magnus supposed – but it was a start. Just a few weeks ago, he would have refused the offer without a second thought, far too determined to keep the distance between his life and his job. It was a valiant effort, but with a family like his, it wasn't really a surprise that it hadn't lasted too long. "Thank you for the opportunity, Magnus." _Small steps_. It was still difficult to not resort to the usual manner of speech that their working relationship was supposed to work with. "I would have never thought of this."

"I know, but it's safer than your City of Bones." That was where the Mortal Instruments were – or one of them, in the very least – but that was a conversation for another day. Magnus didn't intend to start it now when none of his potential supporters would be able to fully focus on the matter at hand. "You can go rest now, if you'd like. It's been a long night."

"Right." Alexander shifted his weight from one foot to the other as if he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do now. "You don't have to stay with Max all day, though. I'll go look after him; tell the others when he wakes up."

"There are protective charms in place all around the building and everything that surrounds it." Magnus hadn't intended to make it sound as if his magical prowess had been challenged, but suspected that he wasn't entirely successful. "You don't need to stay up all day. No one's going to hurt him even if he's on his own, you have my word. And he was so," Magnus fished for the right word, " _enthusiastic_ to learn new things even while feverish; when he wakes up, I'm sure we'll all know about it."

"Yeah." The agreement was accompanied by a nervous laugh now, and Alexander seemed to have thought about this new development for all of a moment when he pulled away from Magnus's touch, only to pull him in for a quick, fleeting hug, as if that was the only way he could think of to express his gratitude. It was downright endearing to see him at a loss for words, even if it was an entirely unusual sight. "Thank you," he repeated and, with another barely noticeable smile, disappeared down the corridor he'd came from until he'd joined his friends again.

Magnus didn't follow him – he had too many questions to ask them all and too little time right now when they all looked so exhausted – but he didn't linger at the same spot for too long either. After all, it had been a long night and he had more than enough things to think about by the time he went to bed.


End file.
